Subjects: Technology

Mine Kafon
We travel to Morocco to detonate land mines with a truly strange-looking device. Powered by wind – and inspired by children’s toys – this invention could be a real lifesaver.

Belgian Deep Dive
Take a dive into the deepest pool in Europe, located in Brussels, Belgium. One scientist explores how diving affects the human body and discovers some secrets about how we age.

Flossie the Old Computer
The great-grandparent to your laptop! Almost the size of an apartment, two retired English engineers are slowly restoring life to a computer from the 1960’s – the ICT 1301.

Gravity Racers
Meet some members from the Maryland Illegal Soapbox Federation and Incline Tryout Society. Check out their one-of-a-kind go-karts that are tough as nails, and re-live the excitement of the East Coast Challenge Championship.

Car Torture Track
We take you to Ford’s top-secret test track, where new car models are taken through the ringer. Located in Belgium, we’ll see some cars get beaten and battered in all kinds of weather conditions, all in the name of research.

Hostage Training
Police officers have one of the most stressful jobs in the world. In Ontario, Canada, officers are being put to the test – where a dramatic re-enactment of a hostage situation reveals how human memory works.

Smartshell
Meet two German engineers who want to start a revolution with their design for ultra-lightweight buildings. See how they plan to counter the stress – and keep the structure sturdy – from wind, water, and snow.

Vertical Forest
Milan is one of the most polluted cities in Europe, but one architect dreams of repairing relations between cities and nature. Watch as two and a half acres of forest are brought to the urban centre – in the form of two tall towers.

Metropol Parasol
In Seville, Spain, there’s a lot more going on at the local market than fresh food. The Parasol is the world’s largest wooden structure, covering the hot market with a much needed shade – it’s also a work of artistic and technical genius.

Storch
Reporter Dan Riskin travels to Germany to check out this remarkable airplane from the 1930’s. The Storch has a ridiculously short take-off and landing distance… and Dan’s about to get a test flight.

Brain-Controlled Wheelchair
Not so much ‘mind over matter’ … but rather ‘that’s using your head!’ We take a look at a new technology that allows severely disabled individuals to operate a wheelchair with their brain.

Top Fuel Power
Fearless reporter Alan Nursall returns to the starting line of Top Fuel Dragsters, and attempts to withstand the sheer power of the cars. Armed with Seismic and Decibel meters, he also attempts to measure their volume and sound.

Solar Tunnel
We travel to Brussels to check out a small army of solar tunnels running alongside the city’s railway tracks – the largest collection of working panels in the world.

AlphaSphere
Talk about a one-man-band: this unique invention contains an orchestra’s worth of sampled instruments… all in one compact package. And it’s turning the heads of some classical musicians as well.

Horseshoe Bats
Reporter and self-confessed ‘Batman’ Dan Riskin travels to China in search of these unique creatures. They may be ugly, but their weird-shaped faces are responsible for sonar capabilities.

Draggin Jeans
We get a little ‘behind’ in our work, as we test out these ultra-strong and durable jeans designed to keep bikers safe from spills on the highways.

Fierljeppen
We travel to the Netherlands to witness this bizarre sport – part puddle jumping, part pole-vaulting. It’s both difficult, and difficult to pronounce.

Kymera
Meet the inventor of what is quite possible the world’s smallest personal watercraft. Designed for fun, the Kymera is now turning the heads of a few water safety experts too.

Toronto Clock Tower
In this modern, 21st century world, it seems that everything is digital: from music and mass communications, to television and time keepers… but this old clock tower is still an amazement of analog: entirely mechanical!

Bucking Bronco-Matic
Take a ride on this rodeo-ready bucking bronco machine… that’s controlled by your emotions.

Scottish Swordsman
A story that takes us all the way to the Highlands of Scotland, and takes a long, hard look at swords. We meet Rob Miller, a man who is singlehandedly keeping the ancient tradition of swordmaking alive.

Hemp Car
We fast forward to the future of car manufacturing… featuring cannabis. In Alberta, Canada, there’s a movement to take the industrial form of cannabis – called hemp – and use it to build a car chassis. Sound strange? Of course it does… but it’s stronger than anything on the road today.

Bat Sonar
You may know that a bat’s shape-shifting ears give it one of the most sophisticated sonar systems in hte world. What you may not know is that a group of scientists want to build robot ears with the very same powers.

Skateboard Professor
For anyone who has ever considered mathematics to be boring, we meet a professor and inventor who is taking binary code to a whole new level… with skateboards!

Swarmanoid
These robots form a small army – and they’re a perfect example of bits and bytes of technology uniting for a common good… or… are they proof that the world will soon be taken over by soulless drones!

Avalanche Lab
We meet a team of scientists working on a real snow job. By studying individual snow flakes, they can determine – and prevent – when and where an avalanche will strike.

Disabled Hang Glider
Daredevil Dan Buchanan wants to fly a hang glider… but Dan has a bigger challenge than fear of heights – Dan is disabled. Can he do it? You bet he can, with the help of a customized hang glider.

Spider Puppet
Arachnophobes beware: The inventor of this giant puppet wants to scare you with his remarkably life-like creation.

Rocket Plane
We check out a passenger plane called the A2, and not since the Concorde has there been this much excitement over a flying machine. The aircraft’s speed – over three thousand miles an hour – might have something to do with it!

Mabel Robot
Scientists at the University of Michigan have created a robot that walks just like a human. Her name is Mabel, and she’s graduated from baby steps to giant leaps.

French Cave Carvings
The amazing gadget in this story is the result of one man’s passion and determination to capture messages left behind by allied troops of the First World War.

Paper Airplane Guy
The name says it all. We meet the world-record holder in the long distance paper airplane throw – and take flight with a number of his other designs.

Porsche Semper Vivus
We show you a working replica of the world’s first working hybrid car – over 100 years old! – faithfully recreated with cutting edge technology.

Eurobot
How do you test a lunar rover? By taking it to Spain of course! We check out how the Spanish countryside is the perfect testing ground for the Eurobot.

UK Lightning Lab
Find out how one lab in Wales is creating lightning bolts to make sure airplanes stay in flight when they’re struck. Shocking – but in a good way.

Hurricane Simulation
Intrepid reporter and man-in-the-field Dan Riskin goes behind the scenes to test out the powerful winds of a hurricane-like natural disaster. It’ll blow you away.

Landwalker
Our embedded reporter Mark Miller travels to Japan to take on a life sized ‘toy’ that’s part Star Wars and part Transformers.

Queen of the Nurburgring
Catching a taxi cab takes on a whole new meaning when that cab is going 300 kilometres per hour! We meet the woman who will take you for a spin around the Nurburgring – strap in!

Fighter Jet Training
Flying a US Navy fighter jet is hard enough as it is… but doing it while trying not to pass out is even harder! We explore how G-forces push the human body to its limits.

Scooter Chase
British inventor Colin Furze creates one ‘suped-up’ mobility scooter… and then races it – against an airplane!